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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24099373">Either your head or your heart, you set the other on fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeSilverheart/pseuds/HopeSilverheart'>HopeSilverheart</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Shadowhunter Bingo [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Catarina is a Good Friend, Episode: s01e06 Of Men And Angels, Fix-It, Fluff, Getting Together, I love my boys pls, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Magnus Bane-centric, let them be happy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:40:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,739</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24099373</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeSilverheart/pseuds/HopeSilverheart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“You have a choice to make. I will not ask again.”</p>
<p>The words hurt to say, but Magnus couldn’t let this Nephilim take over his heart, no matter how pretty he was. If Alec refused to put an end to this sham of a wedding he was planning, Magnus wouldn’t chase him any longer.</p>
<p>He breathed in deeply and ignored the pain that flooded his chest as Alec remained silent. He lifted a hand, ready to portal away at a second’s notice, but then the gorgeous Nephilim in front of him turned around and all thoughts of disappearing faded away.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Shadowhunter Bingo [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713982</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>187</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Either your head or your heart, you set the other on fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>title from lauv's 'the other'</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“You have a choice to make. I will not ask again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The words hurt to say, but Magnus couldn’t let this Nephilim take over his heart, no matter how pretty he was. If Alec refused to put an end to this sham of a wedding he was planning, Magnus wouldn’t chase him any longer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He breathed in deeply and ignored the pain that flooded his chest as Alec remained silent. He lifted a hand, ready to portal away at a second’s notice, but then the gorgeous Nephilim in front of him turned around and all thoughts of disappearing faded away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He should have left, should have given Alec space and time to think about his offer, but one look at those sorrowful eyes was enough to stop him in his tracks. He was falling too fast for this shadowhunter, was putting himself through things he had refused to deal with for centuries, and he didn’t know how to put an end to it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>(Didn’t know if he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> to put an end to it.)</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Magnus stayed silent, waiting for Alexander to speak up, to deny his feelings again, to do something other than stare at the warlock with those wistful hazel orbs. God, the things Alexander did to him. Magnus shouldn’t have been pining after a repressed shadowhunter - not at his age. A few centuries earlier, perhaps, but now? After Camille? He should have never let this boy in. So why had he?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t want to get married.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hadn’t known that a single sentence could fill him with so much relief, but apparently Alexander was determined to surprise him at every turn. His shadowhunter looked so lost, just as he had a few minutes earlier, but at least he wasn’t lying to himself anymore. Magnus didn’t know if it would change anything, if it would be enough to get Alexander to cancel the whole event, but it made him </span>
  <em>
    <span>hope</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And what are you going to do about it?” He breathed out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No matter how much Alexander’s bluntness had warmed his heart, it wasn’t enough. Magnus would not dally with a married man, and the shadowhunter’s admission, no matter how welcome, didn’t guarantee that the shadowhunter would not marry Lydia. It did not change the fact that Alec was engaged, even if the entire thing was more of a business arrangement than a marriage built out of love.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… I should talk to Lydia,” the hazel-eyed angel stuttered. “Right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You probably should,” Magnus hummed. “But it’s not up to me to tell you what you have to do, Alec. You can talk to her and cancel the whole thing, and I’ll be waiting right here. Or you can go through with this sham of a wedding and accept that there will never be anything between us. But it’s up to you, Alexander, not me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The man nodded slowly, staring at Magnus’ face like he was looking for something. Whatever it was, he seemed to find it, because a smile softened his features briefly before he nodded, more decisively this time, and backed out of the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll be back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sounded so sure, but the only thing Magnus could do was hope that his shadowhunter wouldn’t break his heart all over again. So many things could still go wrong. Even if Alexander talked to Lydia, he might not call off their engagement. Even if he cared for Magnus, he might not come back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The warlock was usually a man of words, but in this case, he thought that Alec’s actions would speak louder. Magnus cared very little for empty promises, no matter how much they made his heart flutter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sighed tiredly, reaching for his discarded glass of whiskey, and downing it in one gulp. Alec’s statement had been too vague for his liking. Promising to come back was all well and good, but it meant nothing if he only did so after his wedding.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Cursing his foolish heart, Magnus took out his phone and dialled his best friend’s familiar number. If he was going to wait for Alec’s return, he wasn’t going to do it alone. Catarina would understand, he thought, even if she would undoubtedly call him an idiot for getting involved with a child of the angel. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who hurt you </span>
  <em>
    <span>this time</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see how it is,” Magnus scoffed, his lips twitching into a fond smile. “Not even a ‘hello’? A ‘how have you been’? Maybe I just want to talk to my best friend; would that really be so bad?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It wouldn’t,” Catarina huffed, and Magnus could hear the eyeroll in her tone. “However, if you wanted to chat, you would have invited me over to your loft. This unexpected phone call tells me that something happened and you need to vent about it. Just get to the point, Magnus.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine,” he sighed, pulling himself together as he thought about </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span> he wanted to say. “There’s this boy-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t there always?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hush, you. We met recently through work, and there was a spark between us from the very start. However, since this world hates me, it turns out that he’s closeted, repressed, and convinced that pretending to be straight is the only thing that will satisfy his overbearing parents. He’s also a shadowhunter, and engaged to a woman.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wonderful,” Catarina drawled. “You really like making life hard for yourself, don’t you? Are you sure he’s even worth it, Magnus?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think he could be,” Magnus murmured, thinking about Alexander’s pretty face, his kind smile, his devotion to his siblings, his desire to be as fair as possible. “He was here earlier, and he said… He said he’d go talk to his fiancée and that he’d be back, but Cat, what if…?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What if he doesn’t come back to you?” His friend finished for him. “Then he isn’t worth your time. I know you, Magnus, and I know that when you fall, you fall hard and fast. If he doesn’t come back for you it’ll hurt like hell, and I’ll come over so we can drink your sorrows away, but don’t cling to someone who doesn’t think about your feelings before acting.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And if he does?” Magnus asked, voice small and uncertain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can’t believe I’m about to say this about a shadowhunter,” Catarina mumbled, “but if he comes back, I think you should give him a chance. The boy clearly means a lot to you, Magnus, so don’t turn him down just because he made some dubious life choices. If he cancels his wedding, go for it. Although I do expect to meet him at some point, dear friend, just to make sure that he’s good enough for you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t think anyone’s good enough for me,” Magnus chuckled. “I doubt that Alexander will be the first one to meet your ridiculously high expectations.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe not,” Catarina admitted. “But I’m willing to give him a chance if you are. It’s your life, after all, and if this boy makes you happy, then don’t let those walls you’ve built up get in your way. You deserve to be happy, Magnus.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He opened his mouth to answer, but the tingling of his wards cut him off and he gasped softly as he realised that his loft had recognised the presence and let his shadowhunter in without hesitation. If that wasn’t proof that he was in too deep, then he didn’t know what was. And then he realised what this meant.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh my god, he’s back,” he whispered hurriedly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Go, Magnus,” Catarina laughed. “I’ll be waiting for an update as soon as he leaves. </span>
  <em>
    <span>If</span>
  </em>
  <span> he leaves, obviously. And don’t forget what I just said.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, Cat,” Magnus smiled, hanging up just in time to see Alec walk back into his living room, looking thoroughly dishevelled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His hair was an even bigger mess than usual, his cheeks were flushed, his eyes bright, and he was panting breathlessly. If the mood had been right, Magnus would have made a lewd joke that would have made his shadowhunter blush prettily. But Alexander looked so determined, so certain, that Magnus couldn’t get the comment past his lips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re my choice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just like that, his walls crumbled completely. Alec was staring at him, dazed, as if even he couldn’t quite believe what he had just said, and Magnus’ heart melted. Oh, the things this boy did to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I… I told Lydia that I didn’t want to marry her,” the shadowhunter added quietly. “She understood, I think, and I… I choose </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Magnus. I lose my breath when you step into the room, and my heart beats faster when I’m around you, and when you’re close to me, it’s like… It’s like magic, Magnus, and I never want to not feel like that. So if you want me, I’m yours.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alexander,” Magnus breathed out, ignoring the tears that threatened to spill out of his eyes and the trembling of his hands as he reached out for his beautiful shadowhunter. The beautiful shadowhunter who had ended an engagement for him, who had potentially ruined his chances at a better job, just so he could be with Magnus.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He ran his fingers along Alec’s jawline and stepped closer to him, closing the distance that separated them until he could feel every breath that his shadowhunter took. Alexander relaxed under his ministrations, his eyes locked onto Magnus’ as he waited for an answer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Darling, of course I want you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexander’s lips covered his own before he could add anything else and Magnus wasn’t about to push him away, not when his shadowhunter was kissing him like the world depended on him. He closed his eyes, letting his hands tug at Alexander’s messy locks and cup his neck gently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The kiss was slow and unhurried but no less passionate. Magnus knew that Alec wasn’t as experienced as he was, but he let his mouth move against the warlock’s as though that’s what he had been made to do. It made Magnus breathless, and he had to break away from his shadowhunter momentarily to </span>
  <em>
    <span>breathe</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alec’s pupils were dilated, and his lips were still parted slightly, and he looked more beautiful than anyone Magnus had ever seen in his – admittedly very long – life. Leaning in to capture that mouth again was like second nature, and Magnus lost himself in Alec’s embrace for a few moments longer, wondering if they could stay like that forever.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Heya guys! Thank you for reading, and thank you to @AceOnIce for once again being an amazing beta &lt;3 I hope you all enjoyed this quick fix-it, or as Em so wisely called it: one of the many moments Malec could have made their lives easier by communicating. </p>
<p>Love, Julie. </p>
<p>(find me on tumblr @hopesilverheart)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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